In general, forging is a forming method by which a material, such as iron or a non-iron metal, may be plasticized. Further, the forging operation of pressing a material is performed by a press machine (hereinafter, a press) including upper and lower molds.
Further, when a material is plasticized through forging according to the related art, a single forming method for forming a forged product by pressing a single material is known, and a sequential forming method of forming a forged product through sequential processing by introducing a long plate-shaped material into a progressive press.
Hereinafter, Korean Patent No. 0417939 entitled “Sequential Feeding/processing Apparatus (hereinafter, “a conventional sequential feeding/processing apparatus) will be described as an example of a conventional sequential forming method.
Accordingly, the conventional sequential feeding/processing apparatus is adapted to form forged products by sequentially processing a long target material, and is configured such that a plurality of processing units are arranged in a lengthwise feeding direction of the target material (for example, the material) in correspondence to a plurality of processing processes to sequential process the material through pitch feeding, the body being formed by a substrate, a support plate installed to be spaced apart from the substrate, a slider that is formed between the substrate and the support plate to be moved in a direction that is perpendicular to the substrate and the support plate. Further, the processing unit is implemented by a mechanical processing unit and the mechanical processing is continuously performed by controlling movement of the slider.
However, the conventional sequential feeding/processing apparatus is advantageous in manufacturing a product by pressing a thin plate having a low ductility. However, when a forged product is manufactured by introducing a thin plate of aluminum or copper having a high ductility into the conventional sequential feeding/processing apparatus, a feeding pitch of the material is changed by rapidly enlarging the volume of the material during the forging operation due to the excellent ductility. Therefore, the conventional sequential feeding/processing apparatus cannot sequentially process a material, such as aluminum or copper, which has an excellent ductility.